There’s just something about September in the Cincy Region – Cincinnati Bengals football is back, Oktoberfests begin to make an appearance on both sides of the river, BLINK is right around the corner, and it is officially time to kick off sippin’ season.
September is National Bourbon Heritage Month, and while we don’t need an excuse to celebrate bourbon in the Cincy Region, we’ll happily take one. There’s even a local connection: Northern Kentucky’s own U.S. Senator Jim Bunning sponsored the 2007 Senate resolution that first designated September as National Bourbon Heritage Month.
Nearly 20 years later, there’s plenty to celebrate. Bourbon isn’t just part of Kentucky’s identity. It’s a $10.6 billion industry that supports nearly 24,000 jobs across the Commonwealth.
According to the Kentucky Distillers’ Association, Kentucky’s distilling industry supports 23,935 jobs with $2 billion in salaries, wages and benefits and generates $372 million in state and local taxes annually. The latest inventory also counts a record 17.1 million barrels of spirits aging across Kentucky, including 16.1 million barrels of bourbon.
Yes, you read that right. There are a whole lot more barrels of bourbon in Kentucky than people.
Those are big numbers, but anyone who knows Kentucky knows bourbon has never been just about what’s in the glass. The industry supports Kentucky farmers, barrel makers, truckers, and communities across the Commonwealth. It’s also become an experience that brings visitors here to taste and learn a little more about what makes Kentucky bourbon so special.
If all this bourbon talk has you thirsty, a good place to start is The B-Line®, Northern Kentucky’s self-guided bourbon experience.
The B-Line brings together eight Kentucky Bourbon Trail® distilleries, 10 bourbon bars and nine locally owned restaurants across Northern Kentucky. Start at New Riff Distilling in Newport for an up-close look at the art and science of bourbon making – The Aquifer Tasting Room is a cozy nook for any fall gathering for friends. Next, head to Boone County Distilling Company to dig into the area’s distilling history and find out why its bourbon is “Made by Ghosts.” Then try your hand at creating your own whiskey blend at Wenzel Distillery in Covington.
And the experience doesn’t stop at the distilleries. Revival Vintage Bottle Shop in Covington gives you the chance to taste rare and vintage spirits with co-founder Brad Bonds (known as the Indiana Jones of vintage spirits). Old Kentucky Bourbon Bar offers more than 700 bourbons. At Smoke Justis, choose from more than 500 bourbon labels and pair your pour with smoked meats in a historic Covington building conveniently located a walk across the bridge from Paycor Stadium, making it an ideal stop before a Bengals game.
That variety is part of what makes the B-Line so much fun. Tour a distillery in the afternoon, grab dinner and end the night discovering a new favorite pour at a bourbon bar. Or spread it out over a weekend. There’s no one right way to do the B-Line, and that’s kind of the point.
The best part? You can track your journey with a B-Line Passport. As you sip and savor your way through the region, collect check-ins along the way. Once you gather stamps from two distilleries, two bourbon bars, and two restaurants, you can redeem your passport for free bourbon swag.
It’s also what makes the Cincy Region a great front porch to Kentucky bourbon country. Maybe you’ve already made the bourbon pilgrimage to other parts of the state. If so, we love that. Now come north and see how we do bourbon in the Cincy Region, a unique two-states-in-one destination on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
And here, you don’t have to plan your entire trip around what’s in your glass.
Fly into CVG and make a weekend of it. Stay at Hotel Covington, whose Coppin’s Restaurant + Bar is a stop on the B-Line, and catch a Bengals or FC Cincinnati game. If you come in September, we have the largest Oktoberfest in the United States. Check out one of our eclectic historic neighborhoods – from OTR and Mt. Adams to Newport, Covington and Florence. Dine at one of our James Beard-nominated restaurants like Sudova, Nolia and The Baker’s Table.
Bourbon Heritage Month is the perfect kickoff to fall sippin’ season. As the temperatures cool down and football weekends fill the calendar, it’s a great time to start thinking about how you’re going to experience the fall across the Cincy Region.
You certainly don’t need to be a bourbon expert to have a good time. You don’t have to know your wheated bourbon from your bottled-in-bond. Take a tour, order a flight, ask the bartender what they’re drinking and stay for dinner. That’s the fun of the B-Line. There’s always something new to taste, learn, or discover.
And if you think you’re “not a bourbon person,” come anyway. We might just change your mind. So, here’s to Bourbon Heritage Month in the Cincy Region. We’ll save you a seat.
